Former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson has begun serving prison time for an extortion conviction.

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Johnson checked into Butner Federal Prison in North Carolina over the weekend. The prison is also home to Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.

Johnson was sentenced in December to more than seven years in prison for extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from developers and accepting assorted gifts.

Johnson was the county executive from 2002 until 2010. He and his wife, Leslie Johnson, were arrested in November 2010 as part of a sweeping corruption probe. Leslie Johnson was sentenced to one year and a day for obstructing an investigation into her husband's corruption.